The US has asked all countries, including India, to stop all oil imports from Iran by November as it ruled out any exemption to India and Indian companies from its reimposed Iranian sanctions for them carrying out any transaction with Iran.

On China and India, yes, certainly, a state department official told reporters when asked if the US has told all countries, including India and China, to stop all their imports of Iranian oil by November 4.

He said Indian and Chinese companies would be subject to the same sanctions as those in other countries. Given the huge energy needs, India and China are major importers of Iranian oil.

Their (India and China) companies will be subject to the same sanctions that everybody else's are if they engage in those sectors of the economy that are sanctionable, where there were sanctions imposed prior to 2015. And yes, we will certainly be requesting that their oil imports go to zero. Without question, the state department official said on condition of anonymity.

Responding to questions, the official said these countries should start reducing the import of oil from Iran now and bring it to zero by November 4. Without question, they should be reduced. That's what we've been telling them in our bilateral meetings. They should be preparing, now, to go to zero (by November 4), the official said.

The official said this is part of the Trump administration's effort to isolate streams of Iranian funding and are looking to highlight the totality of Iran's malign behaviour across the region.

We remain engaged with the EU-3 throughout this process, and we are going to continue to branch out in new countries and reach new partners as the weeks go forward, the official said.